Co-Operative Energy Holds UK’s Values Where the Heart Is

By Anne Lewis-Schneider

There is a trend towards outsourcing labour to India, but one supplier of energy has vowed to keep it British, and that is a small relatively new company that was launched in 2011, namely Co-operative Energy. When this company opened its doors it created new jobs in both Warwickshire and Walsall and has based its credo on fair prices, responsible sources of energy and uncomplicated tariffs as well as totally UK home based customer assistance with queries and problems.

The chief operating officer Neil Denley has said that the company is proud to have a totally UK workforce and the company does not have long complicated automated procedures to follow to contact a customer service operator, and that the staff are dedicated to helping those in their communities and with charitable initiatives. Midcounties Co-operative has always maintained a standard of customer service that is said to be of good quality, and Co-operative Energy is part of this organisation where customers are encouraged to enlist as members for a fee of £1 and then effectively have a share in the success of the running of the business.

There is a bi-annual dividend that is earned in the form of vouchers and the half yearly share of profits in the first six month of the year amounted to £1.58 million. When it came to time for price increases, Co-operative Energy did so on a small scale with an average increase in dual fuel to its consumers of only 2.5% for their Pioneer tariff. The company also launched a fixed price tariff that is genuinely affordable.

In structuring Co-operative Energy the company looked to other members of Midcounties Co-operative and applied the best values to their new company. They are doing such a good job of it that they were given the runner-up position in Utility Sector ICMI Top Companies for Customer Service Award, and the company now has a customer base of 160,000. The company is not resting on its laurels, and is doing a software upgrade, as well as an on-line customer service facility and has great plans for expansion and even better service into the future.

Co-operative Energy has their feet planted firmly on the ground and is proud of their support of renewable and sustainable energy projects and keeping the carbon emissions down. The company was instrumental in hosting the first Community Energy Conference earlier this year that was held at the Royal Geographical Society in London. One can only hope that they continue to maintain these values and ethics.